What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex: book of blank pages become surprise bestseller

A book with entirely blank pages has become a bestseller after becoming a hit with students.

“Professor” Sheridan Simove has produced a 200 page book entitled “What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex”.

The work has sold out online on Amazon following heavy promotion in student unions across Britain.

The £4.69 item, which was intended as a novelty gift, is being used by students as a notebook.

Nottingham university student Jess Lloyd said: “I bought a copy for my mate as a joke and he started using it as a note pad for lectures. Now everyone seems to have one. It’s started a real craze on campus.”

“Author” Sheridan Simove said: “This book is the result of 39 years of painstaking research and practical study into the subject. I left nothing to chance and really threw myself into my work.

“After many years of hard work I finally realised that men think of absolutely nothing apart from sex. It was a shocking conclusion and I realised that the world needed to be informed of my findings.

“I never thought for one moment that my life’s work would be embraced by Britain’s students in their thousands. It is very gratifying to see my book outselling many other academic works whose authors claim to have worked even harder than I to break new ground and further the extent of human knowledge.”

Mr Simove, 39, an Oxford University graduate who is an author, performer and entrepreneur, added: “I never anticipated that my book would be used for students to take their lecture notes in. In a sense they are proving me wrong by filling my book with content. But I wonder how many of them go back to thinking about sex once the lecture is over. I’d be willing to bet that answer is 100%. In fact I would go even further and estimate that 99% are thinking about sex even during the lecture. They probably think using my book as a notepad will help them get laid. And they are of course totally correct in that hypothesis.

“I now intend to develop my research further and am planning a PhD at the university of life on the subject of what women think about apart from sex. I hope to publish my findings in another decade.”

Some 72 percent of people said fees on cigarettes ought to be raised. A smaller proportion, but still a majority at 59 and 58 percent respectively, thought alcohol and junk food should also bear heftier duties.

Despite the apparent public support, a hike in the sin tax is unlikely to come soon, however.

“The very same people who want higher duties will jump in their cars and drive over the border where prices are lower to go shopping, just as soon as we raise the duties. There is a limit to how high duties can be and we are already at that limit,” said Karsten Lauritzen, member of the tax committee and the prime minister’s Liberal Party.

The opposition proposes raising duties on cigarettes and junk food, but not on alcohol, according to Social Democrat René Skau Björnsson.

“If we raise the fees on alcohol, we run the risk that cross-border shopping will rise even more, and then we won’t get any benefit out of it. That’s why we propose beginning with cigarettes and junk foods.”

The connection between higher duties and increased cross-border shopping is well documented, according to the government’s Prevention Commission. On the other hand, so is the connection between higher cigarette prices and less smoking.

Roadblocks set up to catch drivers smoking

Police roadblocks are being set up to catch drivers who are breaking the law – by smoking at the wheel of their company vehicle.

The law made it illegal ito smoke n all vehicles used primarily for business purposes by more than one personPhoto: ALAMY

By Martin Evans7:00AM GMT 02 Mar 2011

Council wardens and Essex Police will carry out random inspections across the county to look for evidence of illicit cigarette use.

They will even hunt for cigarette butts in the ashtrays and smell the air inside the vehicles in order to clamp down on the outlawed practice.

Workers were banned from smoking in their company cars as part of the Health Act introduced in 2006.

The law made it illegal in all vehicles used primarily for business purposes by more than one person.

Anyone caught breaking the law faces a £50 fixed penalty fine or a possible court conviction, which carries a £200 fine.

The culprits’ employers will also be informed and also be heavily fined.

Chris Kitchen, acting head of environmental services at Tendring District Council in Essex said: “Police together with council officers will be stopping business vehicles and public transport vehicles on the highway.

"We have noticed that people are smoking in commercial vehicles where in fact it's banned and we will be looking for evidence that people have been smoking.

He added: "We will be looking for ashtrays and whether the vehicle smells of smoke."

Ian Wilkins, environmental officer at Tendring District Council, explained that the scheme was intended to raise awareness of the law.

He said: "When the new legislation came into force on July 1 2007, it became illegal to smoke in virtually all enclosed public places and public and work vehicles.

"I think it is fair to say that most people understood the rules when it came to public buildings, but there was some confusion over the rules about smoking in vehicles.

"We will use the month of March to carry out inspections, offer advice and generally try and make sure people are aware of and compliant with the legislation.

"This is primarily about raising awareness but, if we feel the case is appropriate, we will take action where contraventions are observed."

The scheme which is being carried out throughout March has been organised to coincide with National No Smoking Day which takes place on March 9.

Wearing silk and cotton, she's the first major discovery in years in the area

Amazing discovery: The 700-year-old mummy was found in the city of Taizhou, in Jiangsu Province

These incredible pictures show a 700-year-old mummy, which was discovered by chance - by road workers - in excellent condition in eastern China.

The corpse of the high-ranking woman believed to be from the Ming Dynasty - the ruling power in China between 1368 and 1644 - was stumbled across by a team who were looking to expand a street.

And the mummy, which was found in the city of Taizhou, in the Jiangsu Province, along with two other wooden tombs, offers a fascinating insight into life as it was back then.

Discovered two metres below the road surface, the woman's features - from her head to her shoes - have retained their original condition, and have hardly deteriorated.

When the discovery was made by the road workers, late last month, Chinese archaeologists, from the nearby Museum of Taizhou, were called into excavate the area, the state agency Xinhua News reported.

They were surprised by the remarkably good condition of the woman's skin, hair, eyelashes and face. It was as though she had only recently died.

Oh mother! The woman, discovered two metres below the surface in a wooden tomb, was wearing a Ming Dynasty dress and is thought to have been at a high-ranking level

Immersed: The mummy was found by road workers, and had been preserved in a brown liquid

Bejewelled: The right hand of the 700-year-old mummy shows her preserved skin, and a ring adorns her finger

MING DYNASTY FACTS

The Ming Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644

It was 'one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history' according to venerated tome A history of East Asian civilization

Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one million troops

There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing (pictured) during the first quarter of the 15th century

Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million

Her body, which measures 1.5 metres high, was found at the construction site immersed in a brown liquid inside the coffin.

And the coffin was opened earlier this week, on March 1, much to the excitement of the local city - and further afield. And the right hand of the 700-year-old mummy showed her preserved skin, and a ring.

The mummy was wearing traditional Ming dynasty costume, and also in the coffin were bones, ceramics, ancient writings and other relics.

This is the latest discovery after a lull of three years in the area. Indeed, between 1979 and 2008 five mummies were found, all in very good condition.

Those findings raising the interest in learning the techniques of preservation funeral of this dynasty and customs in time to bury the dead.

Director of the Museum of Taizhou, Wang Weiyin, told Xinhua that the mummy's clothes are made mostly of silk, with a little cotton.

He said usually silk and cotton are very hard to preserve and excavations found that this mummifying technology was used only at very high-profile funerals.

The first finding of the Ming Dynasty in Taizhou dates from May 1979 and led the opening of the museum.

At that time the bodies were also found intact, but due to lack of experience of archaeologists only clothing, belts and clamps could be preserved.

The Ming Dynasty, who built the Forbidden City and restored the Great Wall, was the last in China and marked an era of economic growth and cultural splendour which produced the first commercial contacts with the West.

Wonderfully preserved: This close up of the mummy's shoes shows how well preserved her corpse it

Raised: The group of archaeologists, from the Museum of Taizhou, are shown lifting the corpse out of the coffins to examine their find

Exciting find: Archaeologists raise up the 700-year-old mummy (left), and two other wooden coffins were found

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